This paper examines the role of donors in addressing a complex set of water related challenges in Central Asia and draws some lessons with a view to improving effi ciency and effectiveness of development assistance in the region. Since independence 20 years ago, the Central Asian republics have been striving to maintain their relationships over water in the spirit of collaboration, despite the need to deal with a legacy of unsustainable economic development and environmental mis-management combined with new challenges of divergent national development agenda. In the fi rst years following independence, collaboration between the republics was strongly supported by multilateral and bilateral development agencies under the leadership of the World Bank. This effort was marked by some good results such as the establishment of Interstate Fund of saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) and Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (SIC ICWC) in Central Asia, preparation and signing interstate agreements in 1993 and 1994, as well as development of a regional water strategy.
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